GOOGL Jan 2022 1205.000 call
| Previous close | 350.70 |
| Open | 350.70 |
| Bid | 0.00 |
| Ask | 0.00 |
| Strike | 1,205.00 |
| Expiry date | 2022-01-21 |
| Day's range | 350.70 - 350.70 |
| Contract range | N/A |
| Volume | 2 |
| Open interest | N/A |
- TechCrunch
Google pulls 'Remove China Apps' from Play Store
Remove China Apps, an app that gained popularity in India in recent weeks and did exactly what its name suggests, has been pulled from the Play Store. The top trending app in India, which was downloaded more than 5 million times since late May and enabled users to detect and easily delete apps developed by Chinese firms, was pulled from Android's marquee app store for violating Google Play Store's Deceptive Behaviour Policy, TechCrunch has learned. Under this policy an app on Google Play Store cannot make changes to a user’s device settings, or features outside of the app without the user’s knowledge and consent, and not it can encourage or incentivize users into removing or disabling third-party apps.
- Bloomberg
Globalization’s Winners Are Prime Pandemic Tax Targets
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Governments of all political stripes are spending massive sums to overcome the twin challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic — the virus itself, and the recession it’s leaving in its wake — and rightly so. Some $9 trillion in emergency public spending has been rolled out so far, while global borrowing via bonds and loans hit a record high of $2.6 trillion in April. Financial markets have taken this broadly in their stride.Eventually, though, the question of who will ultimately foot the bill will need to be answered — particularly outside of the U.S., which is relatively protected by the dollar’s global clout. Some assume a future economic rebound will be strong enough to comfortably repay debts over time while central banks keep rates low. But this is a hope, not a guarantee. The risk of lower growth and higher rates is real, necessitating all sorts of painful budget choices, as economist Willem Buiter wrote last month. Taxation is bound to be one of those choices. Everybody knows that raising taxes in a recession can produce an entirely unhelpful outcome by further hurting demand, as seen in countries that pursued austerity. But governments clearly reckon they can get away with taxes that target specific sectors, companies or people, especially those that are seen as having come out of this crisis relatively well-off. Hence the plans by several Latin American countries to raise taxes on high-income earners, and Indonesia’s move to raise value-added tax on digital platforms — because, in the words of its finance minister, “their sales have soared amid the Covid-19 outbreak.” It’s not just the developing world: The European Union is mulling a series of taxes, to be raised directly by its executive arm in Brussels, to help fund the pandemic recovery in the 27-nation bloc. They include a tax on high-carbon-emission imports, a tax on digital firms and a tax on 70,000 large multinational companies that access the EU’s single market and its 450 million consumers.These efforts should be taken seriously. Not all the European proposals will get approval, as the EU’s 27 member states are protective of their tax powers, but if done right they can have benefits. Efforts to introduce a digital tax aim to restore fairness to a corporate tax system that has seen the likes of Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google get away with paying very little. “Don’t try to be too smart,” Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg recently. “Pay taxes where you have to pay taxes.”A carbon border tax would combine the EU’s clout as a trading zone with its Green Deal ambitions. And while a levy on big EU firms might seem like a job killer, it would go towards funding a 750 billion-euro ($840 billion) recovery plan that pours cash back into the bloc. There’s a clear pro-growth side to these tax proposals, Axa SA Chief Economist Gilles Moec tells me.The risk, however, is that in shifting more of the burden of recovery funding onto foreign firms and trading partners — the top two being the U.S. and China — the EU could end up creating new geopolitical and trade headaches. President Donald Trump’s administration is starting investigations into digital taxes from the EU to India that could lead to retaliatory export tariffs. Targeted taxes don’t raise as much money as broad-brush hikes, and if other governments start rolling out tit-for-tat measures, their benefits will be smothered.But it’s worth trying, especially if we want to create a better world beyond the coronavirus crisis. It could be a good thing if tax systems become more progressive and if public spending spreads the wealth around. If the future is anything like the society that emerged from the rubble of post-war Europe, there will be a focus on investment, big projects, and rebuilding. There are fewer constraints on government finances right now, as Goodbody Stockbrockers Chief Economist Dermot O’Leary points out: Bond vigilantes have scattered, and austerity advocates are quiet.The smoke signals of higher taxes are going to get more visible as governments get settled into their new role as drivers of the world economy. But there’s no free lunch, either. Along with politically popular taxes, expect stealthier ones that aren’t, financial repression and other tactics to shake more money out of the private sector. And a Trump administration ready to hit back.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Google takes down Indian app that removed Chinese ones: spokesman
Alphabet Inc's Google has taken down an Indian mobile application from its app store that allowed users to remove other Chinese apps from their phones as it violated certain company policies, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The app, "Remove China Apps", had become top trending free app on Google's mobile app store in India with more than five million downloads since late May. Its popularity rose amid calls for a boycott of Chinese mobile apps in India during a Himalayan border dispute between the two nations. A Google spokesman confirmed to Reuters the app had been removed due to violation of app store policies, but gave no further details.
- Bloomberg
Facebook, PayPal Back Gojek’s Asia Digital Payments Push
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. are investing in Gojek, a big boost for the Indonesian startup’s digital payments business that propels the U.S. companies into a fast-growing Asian internet arena.It’s the second international investment Facebook has made in the past six weeks with a goal of getting more local businesses online, after the social media giant paid $5.7 billion for about 10% of India’s Reliance Jio. It plans to build a commerce and payments business around WhatsApp, on top of letting businesses use the messaging service to interact with customers.The deal announced Wednesday marks Facebook’s first investment in an Indonesian company and is a major boost for the country’s largest startup, a ride-hailing giant that’s morphed into a provider of services like payments and meal delivery. Gojek is now backed by some of the world’s largest internet companies from Alphabet Inc.’s Google to China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., helping it compete against Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc.“WhatsApp in particular can be instrumental in creating a more digital Indonesia by bringing more people into one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world,” WhatsApp Chief Operating Officer Matt Idema said in a blog post. The company didn’t specify how much it is investing and a spokesperson declined to share details.Indonesia is one of the world’s most promising internet markets, fueled by rapidly expanding smartphone adoption and economic growth. It’s the largest country in Southeast Asia, anchoring a regional internet economy estimated at more than $100 billion in 2019 and tripling by 2025. Facebook and PayPal join Google and other U.S. corporations in staking out a relatively undeveloped Asian digital payments arena outside of China.Read more: How Facebook’s Reliance Deal Upends a $1 Trillion Digital ArenaFacebook and PayPal joined Gojek’s current funding round, which closed at $1.2 billion around March at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.Gojek and Grab aim to become Southeast Asian consumers’ default, all-purpose app, similar to Tencent’s WeChat. Gojek has drawn hundreds of thousands of merchants to its platform, providing them with access to more than 170 million users across the region.The Indonesian startup, whose backers also include Singaporean state investor Temasek Holdings Pte, has said it will deploy fresh capital to keep expanding despite global economic turbulence. It recently acquired a mobile point-of-sale startup called Moka for about $130 million, people familiar with the deal have said.Gojek, which debuted an app for hailing motorbike taxis in Jakarta in 2015, now also offers a score of other on-demand services such as house cleaning and medicine delivery, and was last valued at $10 billion according to CB Insights.“We see our role as a convener of global tech expertise, facilitating collaboration that will ultimately lead to a better future for everyone in our region,” Gojek Co-Chief Executive Officer Andre Soelistyo said in a statement.(Updates with PayPal’s investment from the first paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Twitter Names Patrick Pichette as Independent Chairman
(Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. named Patrick Pichette as chairman, replacing Omid Kordestani, who stepped down from the role on Monday.Pichette, former chief financial officer of Google, is a partner at venture firm Inovia Capital and has served as Twitter’s lead independent director since December 2018. Kordestani will remain as a non-employee director, the company said Tuesday.“Given the strength and depth of Twitter’s management team and board, we believe that now is the right time to evolve our governance structure in-line with best practices,” Pichette said in a statement. “We are pleased to demonstrate our commitment to good governance and be in the position to make this important change. We look forward to continuing to benefit from Omid’s expertise on the Board.”Twitter’s corporate governance came under scrutiny earlier this year when activist investor Elliott Management Corp. took a stake in the company with plans to challenge Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey, and potentially replace him. Having an independent chairman was one of the first things Elliott raised with Twitter in their initial meetings as one of the ways the company could improve its governance, according to people familiar with the matter. Pichette will be the first independent chairman for the social-media company.The hedge fund has also pushed Twitter to de-stagger its board, which would allow all directors to stand for re-election every year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. At Twitter’s annual meeting last week, just three of the company’s 11 directors were up for re-election, including Kordestani.Elliott’s push for change at the company was largely focused on improving its leadership, including reviewing whether to replace Dorsey, who divides his time between running Twitter and leading mobile-payments business Square Inc., people familiar with the matter have said. The goal would be to improve operational efficiency and oversight so the company can execute better on its strategy after several stumbles late last year caused its share price to tumble, they said.Twitter agreed to appoint three new directors to its board and create a committee to review its leadership, succession and governance. The committee is expected to deliver its recommendations by year-end. The company named Elliott’s head of U.S. activism, Jesse Cohn, and Egon Durban, co-chief executive officer of private equity firm Silver Lake, to the board at the time. Computer scientist Fei-Fei Li was appointed last month as the third independent director.Last week, Twitter took action against U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time, fact-checking two of his tweets while adding a label to a third for violating rules around glorifying violence. Dorsey and the San Francisco-based company have been criticized for years for failing to do enough to block offensive and harassing posts -- by the president and other users. Trump has since issued an executive order meant to limit some of the protections Twitter and other social media companies receive under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.(Update with details about Elliott’s involvement and plan to de-stagger board elections.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance
Netflix, Disney join other big brands in support of George Floyd protests on 'Blackout Tuesday'
Hollywood is voicing its support for the Black Lives Matter movement amid ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.
- Reuters
Google faces $5 billion lawsuit in U.S. for tracking 'private' internet use
Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through browsers set in "private" mode. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion, accusing the Alphabet Inc unit of surreptitiously collecting information about what people view online and where they browse, despite their using what Google calls Incognito mode. According to the complaint filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, Google gathers data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps, regardless of whether users click on ...
- Bloomberg
Apple Music Pauses Browse Feature in Support of #BlackOutTuesday
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., Spotify Technology Inc. and YouTube joined BlackoutTuesday, an initiative tied to the music industry’s TheShowMustBePaused movement, which supports protests across the U.S. against police brutality and racism toward African Americans.The iPhone maker paused the browse feature on its Apple Music service, presenting users with a message about standing in solidarity “with the Black voices that define music, creativity, and culture.” The feature sends listeners to its “Beats 1” radio program playing motivational songs such as “The People” by Hip-Hop artist Common, and “Sue Me” by rapper Wale featuring gospel singer Kelly Price.Spotify created a “Black Lives Matter” playlist with songs including Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” and “FDT” by California rapper Y.G., which speaks out against U.S. President Donald Trump. The music division of Google’s YouTube canceled all meetings on Tuesday. Executives for YouTube’s business and music teams also invited staff to take the day off.Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records announced plans to contribute to “Black Lives Matter and other organizations that are doing crucial work to combat racial injustice.”While artists such as Kehlani and Lil Nas X griped about the initiative’s execution as the industry shouldn’t need a special day to think about the importance of the black community and its contributions, the freed up time may help focus attention on these issues. Record labels led by white executives have relied on or imitated black art for decades, an uneasy relationship that Prince compared to that of the master and slave.Read more: Instagram Flooded with Black Squares to Support ProtestersImages of black squares flooded social media as influencers, celebrities, artists and musicians tried to raise awareness and address racial tensions that have plagued the fabric of American society.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Will Microsoft Be a $2 Trillion Stock?
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the odds-on favorite to be the first company to cross the $2 trillion market cap threshold according to Wells Fargo Securities analyst Philip Winslow, citing strong growth in Microsoft's Azure cloud computing business.
- Yahoo Finance
'It's driving up the heat density within data centers:' Why AI and 5G are contributing to climate concerns
The increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence and 5G technology are threatening to drive up energy consumption, putting the technology sector on par with the aviation industry in the amount of CO-2 it releases, according to a leading researcher at Gartner. While data centers, tasked with processing the world’s data, have made significant investments to reduce energy consumption over the last several years, David Cappuccio, Gartner VP of Research, says that dynamic is likely to shift dramatically with the growing use of analytics and machine learning.
- Motley Fool
Cable Companies Are Taking a Page Out of Google's Playbook to Launch Targeted Ads
The industry's powerhouses just teamed up in a way that leaves privacy hawks with little to complain about.
- Motley Fool
Why Microsoft and Slack Compete
In this episode of Industry Focus: Tech, Dylan Lewis and Motley Fool contributor Brian Feroldi discuss the competitive dynamics between Slack (NYSE: WORK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and the enterprise software segment in general. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. Dylan Lewis: It's Friday, May, 29th, and we are talking about the ongoing war between Microsoft and Slack.
- Bloomberg
France’s StopCovid Tracing App Available as Country Reopens
(Bloomberg) -- France’s contact-tracing app, which the government hopes will prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 as lockdown measures ease, will be available to download on Tuesday. They just have to get people to use it.StopCovid will be available to download at noon in Paris in the Apple Inc. and Android app stores, the government said. Downloading it is voluntary, and it will act as a supplement for human tracers who will manually go through an infected person’s contacts.Countries around the world are relying on the apps to help notify people quickly when they’ve been exposed to the virus and help prevent a resurgence as offices, restaurants and schools begin to reopen. Still, fewer than half of French people an Odoxa poll for France Info radio said they are ready to download the program.Read more: France Says Virus Recession Will Be Deeper Than Expected“From the first downloads, the app helps avoid contamination, illness and thus deaths,” Digital Minister Cedric O said in an interview on France Inter radio on Monday. “So there is no minimum threshold for the app’s efficiency. Of course, the more people have the app, the better, but there is no threshold to make it efficient. It speeds the tracing process.”A University of Oxford study estimated that about 80% of smartphone users need to participate in the program for it to suppress the disease, the equivalent of 56% of the general population. But infections can be reduced significantly even with fewer downloads. One infection can be prevented with every one or two users, it said.O warned on France Inter radio that the virus is still a threat and urged people to use the technology “for the collective benefit,” as cafes, parks and restaurants reopen with the easing of most lockdown measures on Tuesday.Read More: The World Embraces Contact-Tracing Technology to Fight Covid-19The program is a home-grown solution designed by a state-led task force, including the leading phone carrier Orange SA, software company Dassault Systemes SE, as well as Inria, the institute for research in digital science and technology.The app was approved last week by lawmakers and the privacy watchdog after a debate about how user data, which will be sent to health authorities, will be used and protected.StopCovid will use Bluetooth technology, alerting users if they spend more than 15 minutes within a meter of someone carrying the virus. The French app, which is similar to one being developed in the U.K., is designed by national players, unlike the apps in Switzerland and Germany, which are based on a platform jointly developed by Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Skift
Don’t Miss This Seminal Moment for Racial Justice, Travel Industry
One of my favorite expressions, which seems particularly appropriate as U.S. cities burn anew, is “a luta continua,” Portuguese for “the struggle continues.” Because 52 years after the 1968 uprisings and riots, which were triggered by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and so much more, one can make the argument that not much […]
- Bloomberg
Sony, Google, Airbnb Delay Virtual Events Due to U.S. Protests
(Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. said it’s postponing a virtual news conference for the upcoming PlayStation 5 game console, one of the most high-profile corporate events to be put on hold in deference to protests against police brutality in the U.S.Electronic Arts Inc. also scrapped an event to introduce the Madden NFL 21 game that was set for Monday. Airbnb Inc. said Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky won’t deliver a planned video message to discuss the home-rental startup’s vision for travel. And Alphabet Inc.’s Google postponed the introduction of its Android 11 mobile operating system previously planned for June 3.Demonstrations against the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in Minnesota last week have turned violent in cities from New York to Los Angeles. Officials have set curfews in major cities to deter late-night protests and looting. The situation has reopened racial wounds and cast a somber tone in the country.For the PS5 event, which had been scheduled for June 4, Sony said, “We do not feel that right now is a time for celebration, and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.”Electronic Arts issued a statement with a black background that said: “We stand with our African American/Black community of friends, colleagues and partners.” The company said, “We’ll find another time to talk football with you because this is bigger than a game, bigger than sports and needs all of us to stand together and commit to change.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- TechCrunch
After a spate of device hacks, Google beefs up Nest security protections
Google has added its line of Nest smart home devices to its Advanced Protection Program, a security offering that adds stronger account protections for high-risk users like politicians and journalists. The program, launched in 2017, allows anyone who signs up access to a range of additional account security features, like limiting third-party access to account data, anti-malware protections and allowing the use of physical security keys to help thwart some of the most advanced cyberattacks. Google said that adding Nest to the program was a "top request" from users.
- Motley Fool
5 Brand-Name Stocks That Can Make You Rich
Don't let their large market caps fool you -- these well-known companies have plenty left in the tank.
- Bloomberg
Zoom Transforms Hype Into Huge Jump in Sales, Customers
(Bloomberg) -- Zoom Video Communications Inc. reported quarterly sales that leapfrogged estimates, showing that a surge in demand for its video-conference service during the coronavirus pandemic has translated into more paying customers. The company also about doubled its annual revenue forecast.Revenue increased about 170% to $328.2 million in the period that ended April 30, the San Jose, California-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts, on average, expected $203 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit, excluding some items, was 20 cents a share, compared with analysts’ average projection of 9 cents.Zoom projected sales of as much as $1.8 billion in the fiscal year, from a forecast of as much as $915 million in early March. Analysts estimated $930.8 million.Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan has tried to ensure that his virtual-meeting platform can cope with a swell of demand from people forced to remain home to prevent the spread of Covid-19. While security and privacy issues plagued the system early in the quarantine, Zoom has become an essential social network, attracting more than 300 million participants some days, up from 10 million in December. The software maker allows gatherings of as long as 40 minutes for no charge. While Zoom has attracted more buzz than corporate rivals, its ability to attract more paying customers will determine how well it’s faring against competition from Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.Shares increased 4% in extended trading after closing at a record $208.08 in New York. The stock has more than tripled this year.Zoom said it ended the quarter with about 265,400 customers with more than 10 employees, a more than fourfold increase from the same period a year earlier. The company now has 769 corporate clients that have spent more than $100,000 on Zoom’s products over the last 12 months, about double from a year earlier.The company said its expects adjusted profit in the fiscal year will be $355 million to $380 million, or $1.21 to $1.29 a share. Analysts had estimated 46 cents, just more than Zoom’s earlier forecast. The company has been spending to bolster its network capacity, including by buying cloud-computing services from Oracle Corp. during the pandemic. Zoom also continues to use Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud service.With Zoom’s popularity has come controversy over the company’s security practices. Trolls have invaded myriad meetings, religious gatherings and other events, to share pornography and shout profanity or racial epithets, in a phenomenon known as “Zoombombing.” The company highlighted or created a raft of tools users can employ to prevent the virtual attacks, including passwords and waiting rooms.There also were instances when Zoom calls were routed through servers in China even when no participant was based there and users were unwittingly sending metadata to Facebook Inc. when they signed in. Zoom put an end to both practices. The company pledged to commit to bolstering privacy over all other concerns for three months, purchasing a secure-messaging company, Keybase, to bring the highest standard of encryption to the platform, and hiring cybersecurity experts to guide safety efforts.(Updates with profit forecast in the seventh paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Why Splunk Shares Rose 32.4% in May
What happened Shares of data visualization expert Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) gained 32.4% in May 2020, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock reached fresh all-time highs when the company reported solid first-quarter results on May 21.
- Bloomberg
Gold Is On the Rise Along With Unemployment
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The pandemic has changed the state of the economy and with it the most attractive risk assets, according to this week's guest on Masters in Business, economist David Rosenberg. He expects rates to remain very low for as far as the eye can see, with deflation a bigger risk than rising prices. He believes this is an ideal environment for gold to appreciate and he is betting on the metal.The former chief economist at Merrill Lynch now runs his own firm, Rosenberg Research. Being independent allows him to make unfettered and honest research calls without the oversight and institutional constraints at a larger firm.Rosenberg notes of the 10 million jobs recovered since the 2008-09 financial crisis, all of those -- and more -- were lost during the first month of the coronavirus crisis. Worse yet, the jobs newly created since the end of the Great Recession included many of the low-skill, low-wage variety -- jobs that generally don't offer the possibility of working remotely from home. He expects at least 10 million of these sorts of jobs will never be regained.There are now 41 million unemployed workers, and it will get worse before it gets better, according to Rosenberg. He noted that the U.S. economy already was on thin ice, with low corporate capital investment and expenditures, and little profit growth. Industrial production and exports also were weak.His favorite books are here; a transcript of our conversation is here.You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras, on iTunes, Spotify, Overcast, Google, Bloomberg and Stitcher. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.Next week, we speak with Jon Litt, chief investment officer of Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC, about the prospects for recovery in commercial real estate.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
AVs Gather Momentum Amid Coronavirus But Roadblocks Remain
With coronavirus keeping most people housebound, driverless cars have indeed proved to be an asset. However, it will still take considerable time to bring AVs into the mainstream.
- Bloomberg
Google Helps Place Ads on Sites Amplifying Covid-19 Conspiracies
(Bloomberg) -- Google has taken aggressive action to scrub coronavirus conspiracies from its news service and YouTube, at a time when social media companies have come under intense scrutiny for their potential to spread dangerous disinformation about the global pandemic. It has begun labeling misleading videos aimed at U.S. audiences, and has joined with other major internet companies to coordinate a response against what the World Health Organization has described as an “infodemic.”But Google is also placing advertisements on websites that publish the theories, helping their owners generate revenue and continue their operations. In at least one instance, Google has run ads featuring a conspiracist it has already banned.One ad for Veeam, an independent Microsoft 365 backup service, appeared atop one website featuring an article that includes false claims that Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates’s charitable efforts on pandemics and vaccines are a part of a world domination plot. A Microsoft Teams ad ran with a French language article that alleged Gates tried to bribe Nigerian lawmakers to vote for a Covid-19 vaccine. An ad for the telecommunications provider O2 showed up on another article linking the virus to 5G networks, a common conspiracy theory. The ads were placed through Google’s automated system for matching marketers with websites. The Global Disinformation Index, a research group, recently reviewed 49 sites running baseless claims about the virus, including the stories about Gates and 5G networks. Alphabet Inc.'s Google placed ads on 84% of them, generating the majority of the $135,000 in revenue the sites earned each month, according to the Global Disinformation Index’s estimate.Google has faced criticism for funding hyper-partisan publishers such as Breitbart News in the past. The company has avoided making blanket policies about which publishers can run its ads. Instead, it removes ads only from the specific pages carrying content that violates its content policies. It also allows advertisers to blacklist specific sites. The company has been particularly reluctant to take action with political ramifications now that the Trump administration is taking concrete action to punish companies that it argues show bias against conservative viewpoints. Christa Muldoon, a Google spokesperson, said none of the web pages flagged by the Global Disinformation Index violated its policies. “We are deeply committed to elevating quality content across Google products and that includes protecting our users from medical misinformation. Any time we find publishers that violate our policies, we take immediate action,” she said.‘A Huge Issue’ Google's network ad system is a massive machine for automatically generating money for its owner. Websites apply for Google's program, and they add display banners and pop-ups advertisements to their pages. Google's system automatically fills these slots with digital marketing and takes about 30% of the revenue they generate. Although Google offers a level of control to its marquee advertisers, the self-service system sometimes places ads for brands on websites with which they’d prefer not to be associated.Google’s systems have recently placed ads for eBay Inc., Oracle Corp. and HBO on websites like activistpost.com, thegatewaypundit.com and thewashingtonstandard.com, all of which routinely publish conspiracy theories, according to the Global Disinformation Index.Another company that placed ads on the sites in the study was Criteo SA. When contacted by a reporter about an ad mentioned in the report, Luca Sesti, a spokesman for the company, said it was breaking off its commercial relationship with the website in question, thegatewaypundit.com. “In the event we find a partner is not adhering to our policies, we will terminate the relationship immediately,” he said. “We recognize that the dissemination of inaccurate information through ‘fake news’ is a very real problem on the internet.”Often the ads the researchers found made for uncomfortable pairings. The O2 ad ran alongside an article promoting false claims that 5G wireless technology causes people to experience symptoms of coronavirus because it "poisons their cells." “This is a huge issue that Google needs to tackle now,” said Craig Fagan, program director at the Global Disinformation Index. “It is creating a financial incentive for these websites to continue promoting the conspiracy theories. You go to these sites and there are ads galore, pop ups everywhere. The ads are there to get clicks, monetizing each reader.”A Banned Provocateur ReturnsIn one case, Google accepted ad revenue from a company promoting a conspiracy theorist it tried to remove from its own platforms. In early May, YouTube removed the account of David Icke, a British provocateur who often ranted about "Rothschild Zionists" controlling global institutions and has questioned the efficacy of vaccines. In a recent interview about Covid-19, he said that 5G makes people sick and sends out signals that can control their emotions. Icke had posted on YouTube for more than 14 years.Guillaume Chaslot, a former Google engineer and founder of the research group AlgoTransparency, estimated that Icke’s YouTube channel gained 200,000 subscribers during March and April, when he largely touted unproven theories about the virus. Chaslot's research tracks how often YouTube's recommendation system sends viewers to particular videos and channels. In a 10-year span, YouTube promoted Icke's videos about a billion times.YouTube removed Icke’s account for violating its rules about coronavirus disinformation. Since then, Icke has appeared on other YouTube channels and in YouTube ads for Gaia Inc., a streaming network that promotes yoga and alternative healing. "We have to break out of this perceptual prison," Icke said in a voice-over during an ad that ran weeks after his ban. Gaia's network runs several shows featuring Icke. On a recent earnings call, Gaia executives said YouTube had become a "pretty significant" way to get new subscribers.Gaia didn’t respond to requests for comment. Imran Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a U.K. nonprofit, argues that social media platforms should remove Icke entirely. “In a pandemic, lies cost lives," said Ahmed. "Misinformed people put us all at risk through their reckless actions.” His group estimated that Icke earned about $177,000 a year from YouTube ads before the ban.Jaymie Icke, a spokesman for Icke's video service Ickonic, said the earnings estimate was inaccurate because YouTube has restricted ads on controversial videos for several years. "Revenue is nothing and has been for a while," said Icke, who is David Icke’s son. "They removed all ads from the channel two months prior to the full deletion anyway. So that figure has simply been made up."Icke and others blocked from the site are allowed to appear on other accounts and in ads as long as those videos don't break rules, according to Muldoon, the Google spokesperson. While web giants like Google have tried to handle conspiracy theories on their user-generated services, they have also tried to reform their ad systems to handle the growing problem. In October 2018, Google and Facebook Inc. signed a European Union code of conduct on disinformation that contained a commitment to “improve the scrutiny of advertisement placements to reduce revenues of the purveyors of disinformation.”According to Fagan, however, the issue remains a blind spot for the companies. Some of the conspiracy websites attract a large number of visitors, promoting their content across social media platforms.The 49 websites promoting Covid-19 conspiracies that were reviewed by the Global Disinformation Index were just a small sample and offer a snapshot of a much larger program, Fagan said. Last year, the Global Disinformation Index published a study of about 20,000 websites promoting disinformation and conspiracy theories. It estimated that they were generating $235 million every year in advertising revenue, approximately $86.7 million of which was paid out by Google.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Is the Worst of the Coronavirus Behind Us Now?
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The story of Covid-19 has been pretty bleak, from the scale of the novel coronavirus’s death toll to the pain of draconian lockdowns imposed by, in many cases, unprepared and under-resourced governments.But several weeks after the tentative lifting of tough stay-at-home restrictions in several major European countries, there are reasons to be optimistic about the risk of a second wave of cases — with a dose of appropriate caution.In France, the government is forging ahead with the reopening of bars, restaurants, museums, parks and cross-country travel after the first phase of “deconfinement” went much better than expected. The daily increase in cases here averaged around 0.5% last week, according to Bloomberg data, and the virus’s basic reproduction rate is below 1, according to the French government and other estimates based on hospitalizations.Elsewhere, Italy, Germany and Spain have also avoided serious flare-ups in cases and deaths as restrictions are eased. It’s similar in Austria and Denmark, which lifted lockdowns back in April. Weekly confirmed cases show the continuation of a declining trend. That’s despite people going out and about once again, albeit with face masks and hand gel, and a stay on big-crowd events for now.Retail and recreational footfall in these countries, which was near zero during the lockdown, has recovered to around 50% below the pre-crisis baseline, according to Google data. In parks and public spaces, it’s back to normal. Consumers are even booking flights again. Visions of a radically new society emerging from the rubble of Covid-19 may have to be rethought.There’s no consensus yet on why things are going relatively well. Some experts say the virus itself may have changed, possibly weakened by the summer heat or mutating into a more benign form. Society has changed, too. More social distancing, more handwashing and more testing and contact tracing are proving their worth.Whatever the reason, doctors are increasingly voicing relief and optimism. “Of course, we shouldn’t lower our guard,” French medical professor Frederic Adnet said last week. “But right now, it’s as if the epidemic was behind me.” On Friday, Christian Drosten, a virologist at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin, told Der Spiegel he was confident the outbreak could be kept under control without another lockdown: “There is theoretically a possibility that we can forego a second wave.”None of this means that the virus has disappeared. Areas such as Latin America are still being hit hard. The World Health Organization says the strength of the virus in the developing world indicates we are globally still in the first wave, rather than past it.Nor does it make sense for all countries to lift restrictions to the same extent. Scientists in the U.K., where daily case growth has been higher than in neighboring countries, have expressed concern about curbs being eased too fast. It’s pretty unlikely we are anywhere near herd immunity, and if the virus is a seasonal one, a return in the winter months can’t be ruled out.Still, countries in Europe are proving they can return to some semblance of normal life while containing the virus’s spread, and this is a very positive development. We’re far better prepared to contain “super-spreader” events than at the beginning of the epidemic, when the virus thrived below the surface. Earlier this month, more than 100 infections were traced to a service in a German church, which closed its doors as a result.And economic activity is recovering, as captured by the quite rational rally in financial markets. Bank of America analysts expect key indicators to point to an expanding euro-zone economy by September at the latest.If infections from the novel coronavirus or another one like it do spike again, we will have had more time to keep researching existing drugs for possible treatments, as well as working on the more distant goal of a vaccine. The extra resources being poured into testing, medical research and hospitals should help us avoid the worst of both worlds — high excess deaths and blanket, economy-killing lockdown measures — even if cases climb.The scenario of this virus simply disappearing, perhaps in the way the 2003 SARS disease did, remains a dream. Pandemics usually end when there aren’t enough people left to infect, or when human intervention — through vaccines, or brute-force measures such as isolation or quarantine — scores a decisive victory. We’re not there yet. But the feeling of getting closer is palpable, and worth relishing.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Better Buy: Amazon.com vs. Google
It goes without saying that two of the very best companies in the world are Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), the parent company of Google. In fact, Google and Amazon ranked Nos. Amazon and Alphabet tend to compete more and more with each other as time marches on, but each company still has a dominant market share of their respective core businesses: e-commerce for Amazon; digital advertising for Google.
- Yahoo Finance
Trump is waging a regulatory war against Twitter. He may not have a legal case.
President Donald Trump’s increasingly heated feud with Twitter may be good for social media impressions, but may not be legally enforceable, according to experts.
